The Last Herrick Secret, Adele Broadbent (222 pages) – Becs and her family are returning to the city, taking Isaiah Herrick with them. Becs is keen to slot right back into city life where she left off, but it’s harder than she expected. Isaiah struggles with the change and is worried about a stranger he saw on the verandah as they left the bush. Meanwhile, things aren’t right at Herrick House, and soon Becs and Isaiah have to return in order to help with the last Herrick secret.

First lines: “‘Goodbye, Son.’ Mother smiled, a tear sliding down her cheek. A knot formed in my throat, cutting off my answer. I hugged her instead before standing in front of Papa.”

Indigo Awakening, Jordan Dane (294 pages) – Voices told Lucas Darby to run. Voices no one else can hear. He’s warned his sister not to look for him, but Rayne refuses to let her troubled brother vanish on the streets of LA. In her desperate search, she meets Gabriel Stewart, a runaway with mysterious powers and far too many secrets. Rayne can’t explain her crazy need to trust the strange yet compelling boy—to touch him—to protect him even though he scares her. A fanatical church secretly hunts psychic kids—gifted “Indigo” teens feared to be the next evolution of mankind—for reasons only “the Believers” know. Now Rayne’s only hope is Gabe, who is haunted by an awakening power—a force darker than either of them imagine—that could doom them all.

First lines: “Lucas Darby stumbled through heaving waves of neon signs and drifting shadows, straining to make sense of the muffled whispers he heard. Drugs had forced him endure a never-ending silence, where even the music in his head had died. But now the voices had emerged and quenched a killer thirst in his soul.”

Something Like Hope, Shawn Goodman (193 pages) – 17-year-old Shavonne has been in juvenile detention since the seventh grade. Mr Delpopolo is the first counselor to treat her as an equal, and he helps her get to the bottom of her self-destructive behavior, her guilt about past actions, and her fears about leaving the Center when she turns 18. Shavonne’s mentally unstable roommate Cinda makes a rash move, and Shavonne’s quick thinking saves her life—and gives her the opportunity to get out of the Center if she behaves well. But Shavonne’s faith is tested when her new roommate, Mary, is targeted by a guard as a means to get revenge on Shavonne. As freedom begins to look more and more likely, Shavonne begins to believe that maybe she, like the goslings recently hatched on the Center’s property, could have a future somewhere else—and she begins to feel something like hope.

First lines: “Lying on the cold hard floor of a locked room, I wish. Is it bad to wish? It feels bad, but only because my wishes drift away. They escape from me and go wherever wishes go. Where do wishes go? Better places, I hope.”

The Whole of My World, Nicole Hayes (370 pages) – Desperate to escape her grieving father and harbouring her own terrible secret, Shelley disappears into the intoxicating world of AFL. Joining a motley crew of footy tragics and, best of all, making friends with one of the star players, Shelley finds somewhere to belong. Finally she’s winning. So why don’t her friends get it? Josh, who she’s known all her life, but who she can barely look at anymore because of the memories of that fateful day. Tara, whose cold silences Shelley can’t understand. Everyone thinks there’s something more going on between Shelley and Mick. But there isn’t is there? When the whole of your world is football, sometimes life gets lost between goals.

First lines: “The mirror used to be mum’s. Her mum’s before that. It’s oval shaped with a gold frame and patches of tarnish around the edge, like smudges of dirt that won’t go away.”

Gloss, Marilyn Kaye (394 pages) – New York, 1963. Fashion, music and attitudes are changing, and there’s nowhere in the world more exciting. Sherry, Donna, Allison and Pamela have each landed a dream internship at Gloss; America’s number-one fashion magazine. Each girl is trying to make her mark on New York and each finds herself thrown head-first into the buzzing world of celebrity, high-end fashion and gossip. But everything isn’t as glamorous as it seems – secrets from the past threaten to shatter their dreams. They’re finding out that romance in New York is as unpredictable and thrilling as the city itself.

First lines: “Sherry Ann Forrester knew the rules. Among the many social guidelines that had been drummed into her since childhood was this fixed decree: a lady maintained her air of composure, whatever the circumstances.”

Dare You To, Katie McGarry (456 pages) – If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk’s home life, they’d send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom’s freedom and her own happiness. That’s how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn’t want her and going to a school that doesn’t understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn’t get her, but does. Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock-with secrets he can’t tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn’t be less interested in him.

First lines: “I’m not interested in second place. Never have been. Never will be. It’s not the style of anyone who wants to play in the majors. And because of my personal philosophy, this moment sucks.”

Broken, Elizabeth Pulford (243 pages) – Critically injured in a motorbike accident, Zara Wilson lies in a coma. She is caught between many worlds: the world of her hospital room and anxious family, and that of her memories and a dream-like fantasy where she searches for her brother Jem. Jem proves elusive but Zara s adventures in her subconscious unlock dark secrets of a troubled childhood. Zara must face up to her past in order to accept her future.

First lines: “My head is full of bubbles. Strange floating words, bits of conversations, bits of people. Some I know. Some I don’t. Hundreds of coloured dots. I can’t see straight. Can’t think straight. I seem to be nowhere. I seem to be everywhere. If only the wretched thumping in my head would stop.”